About Me

I'm an elderly retired teacher who writes. Among my books are Ferradiddledumday (Appalachian version of the Rumpelstiltskin story), Stuck (middle grade paranormal novel), Patches on the Same Quilt (novel set in Franklin County, VA), Them That Go (an Appalachian novel), and several Kindle ebooks.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

The Birds

This morning, while I was feeding Melody, I heard a whooshing sound overhead. I stepped out of the run-in shed in time to see a huge flock of birds overhead. The huge flock changed shape and direction a few times as they sort of folded back on themselves. By the time I got my camera out of my pocket, they had flown across the road and into some trees.

The lowest branch against the sky points to the flock.

Now you see a few of them.

The flock rises from the woods.

They're hard to see here because they're at the treeline.
But the trees to the right are still full of birds.

Now you can see some of the flock!

They're headed for the road.

The flock crosses the road.

. . . and is soon out of my sight.

For a moment, I was reminded of the YouTubevideo "Murmuration," which has gone viral and which some folks think is wonderful and mystic, etc. But I was also reminded of Alfred Hitchcok's classic horror film, The Birds, which was released when I was 18. (Here's a clip of the schoolhouse scene.)